FEBRUARY 16, 1949

HYDE PARK, Tuesday—It is interesting to learn that from the Allied and German scientists in Germany
should come the development of "ersatz" foods.

These certainly will be of value not only to the Germans, but to many countries where
the population is very dense and the real foods are in short supply. These synthetic
foods will be cheaper than the real foods, but they will taste like the real thing
and contain all the nutritional values of real food. They can be produced in great
quantities and distributed where they are actually needed.

I can quite understand why the German politicians are opposing this development because,
since the real thing is provided by the occupying powers and since they quite naturally
want to build up their own herds of cattle, they do not want a substitute that will
delay the importation from other countries. But "ersatz" foods right now will give
them a full ration, which they have not had in the past—half of it real and half of
it synthetic. The scientists also have developed a milk substitute and have found
that children drinking it are as well off as those drinking whole milk. This will
be a great thing for countries where milk is still short. In France, when I was there
last autumn, no one over five years old was getting a full ration of milk. If this
new product has the same nutritional value it can certainly be used in cooking and,
when necessary, even for drinking purposes.

Synthetic things never do appeal to me as much as the real things, but I can see that
vast areas of the world, which never have had enough meat or milk, will be far better
off. These synthetic foods, with their real nutrition, can be distributed at prices
that are within the reach of the populations most in need.

I spent Sunday evening in Baltimore, making a speech on the Declaration of Human Rights,
and flew home afterwards. We ran into some delay and the result was a rather short
period of sleep!

We took the one o'clock train to Hyde Park on Monday and I spoke in the evening before
the new Dutchess County Council on World Affairs, an organization that is growing
by leaps and bounds and has already acquired 350 members. This is very encouraging
and a sign of the interest that people are developing in foreign affairs.

This week the American Heart Association launches its drive to raise $5,000,000 to
increase "research, education and local community cardiac services."

There is no doubt that heart diseases take the highest toll among our people at the
present time, and it is in the interest of everyone to help this program. Especially
is it important to develop the services for young people. Children who develop heart
disease after rheumatic fever or from other causes can often recover with the proper
care. But if they are neglected, the condition is apt to mean a handicap throughout
life.

E. R.

(WORLD COPYRIGHT, 1949, BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC., REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR
IN PART PROHIBITED.)